Tea Tree Oil

Growing up I've always had pretty good skin, only ever had the occasional pimple that lasted 2-5 days every few weeks, sometimes months if I was lucky. But in the last 6 months my skin has broken out and nothing has seemed to work. A lot of it is cystic acne that lingers before it gets worse, and repeats the process every few weeks; so basically, the pimples I have are constant. I tried face cleansers, such as Sukin, Clearasil, Neutrogena, and St.Ives. None of it did a thing, in fact they just brought on more pimples. I tried acne spot treatments, using the same brands, and also Benzac, and then anti-biotic creams. No change. So I decide to try more natural products; fresh aloe vera gel (which made one of my cystic pimples infected), honey, and salt water. No positive changes again. I then tried just washing my face with warm water, switched it to cold water later on, and neither had an affect. This is when I finally decided to buy Tea Tree Oil. I read positive reviews, a lot mentioning that it's practically a miracle worker. And indeed it was...for a short while. This one cystic pimple I've had for 3 months straight finally decided to decrease in size, the inflammation was fading, and I finally thought I'd found a cure. But then a few days later I started to notice that I was breaking out around this cystic pimple; almost as if it was curing one, but bringing on a dozen more. I continued to use it however. The pimples started to fade and my confidence built back up again. Until two weeks later when I woke up to this cystic pimple staring back at me in the mirror again; it was huge, it was red, and it was painful. I continued to use Tea Tree Oil. But, it's now been almost two months since using this product, and none of the original pimples have gone, and in fact I have more than I started with. I've always diluted the Tea Tree Oil, as it was far too strong for my sensitive skin, and the smell was awful. I first started by putting it on twice a day, and when my pimples were at their worst I used it up to six times a day. It made no difference how much and how often I used it. I'm thinking this product is just not suitable for me, as it has been for so many other people. So in saying that, I would recommend at least trying this product as a spot treatment, as you never know which way it'll go; it could either be the miracle cure you've been waiting for, it could be the worst decision for your skin, or it could just simply not have an affect at all.

I have mixed feelings about the use of tea tree oil, hence the 3 star rating. I think 100% pure, organic tea tree oil can be an effective spot treatment for individual pimples, but it needs to be diluted. I experienced a severe burn mark when I applied full strength tea tree oil on an emerging pimple, and my skin is oily and strong - not easily affected by topicals. Now when I use tea tree oil, I dilute it with a carrier oil. My favorite carrier oils are hemp seed and argan as they have a "0" comedogenic rating. I dilute at least 50% carrier oil with 50% tea tree oil and apply sparingly, and no more than 3 times a day to individual pimples. In most cases, it will speed up the healing of the pimple by several days.

I used tea tree all over for a while but now only as a spot treatment. I found it unnecessary with the use of sulfur instead. I do however like this as a spot treatment for stubborn acne that wont come to a head as it makes the top layers of skin peel off relatively fast when applied full strength 2 times per day for a few days.

I would use this to spot treat and kill bacteria, but definitely not if you plan to go out in public within the next 12-24 hours. I mixed the tea tree oil with 98% organic aloe vera and spot treated, which worked fine. But when I put it all over my face, everything...EVERYTHING was severely red for a while, and it caused quite a few dry spots. This stuff is strong...it works as well as benzol peroxide, don't underestimate it's strength just because it's natural.

Tea tree oil is known for its antibacterial and healing properties and I use it sometimes. The one I used at first wasn't 100 percent pure and I really didn't notice a difference so I decided to purchase a100 percent pure tea tree oil bottle. This was slightly better and I did notice a bit of difference but not a major one. I would recommend it but it wouldn't be my first choice.

I am 15 and have oily and sensitive skin. I used to suffer from white heads all over my t zone but after using a benzoyl peroxide wash and a medicine prescribed by my doctor called minocycline, it has cleared up a lot. Now however, I have big cysts that form on my cheeks. I thought i was almost out of the woods but then these things came and they are painful and make my skin look swollen. I tried applying tea tree oil as spot treatment but it doesnt really do much. It mostly just dries out the surface skin over the cyst. And i can only use it at night because it makes the area extremely red (this may be because my skin is kind of sensitive). It burns when you apply it at first and has a strange smell but i am used to both of these things by now. I am torn though because i think it helps decrease the cyst size a little bit, but it just dries the crap out of the area. I dont think i would recommend this for people with cystic acne but i think it would be a great for whiteheads because it would dry and draw out the gross stuff. I wouldnt recommend it if you have dry skin because it will most likely make you flaky. But it may just be so drying on me because i use it following a bp cleanser. You might give it a shot, especially if you have oily whiteheaded skin, but i think it just depends on who you are and what condition your skin is in. Sorry that was lengthy but hopefully it helped.

It worked at first for me but then it just started irritating my skin alot.

I had a bad breakout and I probably did the stupidest thing a person could do and decided to apply tea tree oil and expired aloe vera gel over night XD the catch? I just poured so much undiluted tea tree oil into the concoction and let's just say that I woke up with raw burns on my face :( it was my fault but even then my acne still remained! I do use a tea tree oil based cleanser and it's great! I just think that you have to be VERY careful and start small because you can't be sure how much of it your skin can handle! I used pure UNEXPIRED aloe vera gel to heal it and it was gone within a couple days! I'm still scared to try it agin but I think it would work well in some people Currently, I have cleared up my skin by washing my face morning and evening with a very gentle cleanser and no treatments or moisturizers at ALL. It is working great and it's day 3 and my skin is glowing and no new pimples are appearing! My skin is neither oily or dry! So just in case you overuse it, just use aloe vera gel and after it heals be gentle to your skin! If your worried about how it might react to your skin then use a cleanser or moisturizer with it! :) they are always safe and you can find them at Superstore and the body shop! Hope this helped! :D

Overall, I do use tea tree oil on a daily basis and will probably continue to do so. The results aren't TOO noticeable, though it has helped in reducing spots and has made my blemishes clear up quicker than usual. The thing I hate about it though, is that many pimples that I've applied this to left behind VERY dark scars that I'm afraid will take forever to remove.

I used this as a replacement for my extended addiction to Proactive, and it worked great as a spot treatment for acne that's coming to the surface. I wouldn't use it all over my face though--too drying. In general, this dries my skin far too much for everday use, but if you're trying to wean yourself off BP then this is good. But it really doesn't improve overall skin health and is best used as a spot treatment for acne caused by overnight bacteria.